About Me

I'm just me - a solitary wanderer who trekked across much of the world and recently retired to a small farm in the Ozarks.
My checkered past includes time spent as an Army officer, high school teacher and principal, real estate broker, child protection worker and administrator, and social worker with the U.S. military.
Over the years I have resided in a variety of places including Missouri, Virginia, Okinawa, Kansas, Kentucky, and Arizona. I have also traveled to Germany, Mexico, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Great Britain, Belize, Guatemala, Taiwan, Guam, South Korea, Vietnam, and numerous islands in the Caribbean - including Cuba.
I have ridden in a Russian ambulance, hitch-hiked across Moscow late at night, fought an ostrich, celebrated New Year's at a street party in Hanoi, and bicycled across the Caribbean. My travels have taken me to Ground Zero in Hiroshima, the Bolshoi Ballet, China Beach, and the White House kitchen.
The nine things in life that I am most proud of are my children: Nick, Molly, and Tim, and my grandchildren: Boone, Sebastian, Judah, Olive, Willow, and Sullivan.
Life has been very good to me indeed!

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Pope Francis Fires a Troublesome Nuncio

by Pa RockCitizen Journalist

Last September
Pope Francis made his first official visit to the United States, a trip
that thrilled and enraptured most of those with whom he came in
contact. The trip was a rip-roaring success, and even the Republican
right-wing troglodytes in Congress sat and listened politely as the
Pontiff addressed a Joint Session of both Houses. The Pope's visit to
American was almost blemish-free.

It wasn't
until the Pope had returned to Vatican City that word leaked out that he
had "met with" Kim Davis, the bigoted Kentucky county clerk who was
actively pursuing her fifteen minutes of fame by refusing to provide
marriage licenses to gay couples. This news seems not only to have
surprised and disgusted many Americans, but it was apparently news to
the Pope himself.

As more became known of the incident,
it soon took on the trappings of an "ambush" rather than a meeting.
The four-times married Mrs. Davis had been invited to come to a
reception at the Vatican Embassy in Washington, DC, to meet Pope
Francis. The anonymous invitation was sent at the behest of the Vatican
Nuncio (ambassador) to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria
Vigano, an ultra-conservative cleric with a strong opposition to gay
marriage. And Mrs. Davis instead of "meeting with" the Pontiff, was
instead one of many hands that he shook in a long line at the
reception.

But the damage was done as soon as Nuncio
Vigano let the word slip that Mrs. Davis had met the Pope. Joe Cool was
suddenly and maliciously tainted - and Joe Cool was not pleased. He reportedly recalled Vigano to Vatican City where he read the riot act to the sneaky diplomat.

This
week it was announced by the Vatican that Archbishop Vigano was being
replaced as the Nuncio to the United States. The incoming ambassador
will be Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the current Vatican Ambassador to Mexico. Nuncio Pierre is pro-immigration and is expected to be decidedly more liberal on social issues than his predecessor. One of the duties of the nuncio is to vet candidates for various hierarchical positions within the U.S. church and make recommendations to the Vatican regarding appointments. With that authority, Archbishop Pierre could have an immense role in shaping the role of the Catholic Church in the United States for years to come - well beyond the papacy of Francis.

And as the American Catholic Church becomes more liberal in its outlook, Ambassador Vigano and Kim Davis will have themselves to thank for it.